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Reading Never Got So Busy…and Mobile

If you’re like me, you have to have everything at the tip of your finger.  Aside from slaving away everyday at work, I spend most of my time reading the latest news on global events, and the gadgets, gizmos, and thingamajigs that make life more entertaining for the rest of us.  Many people pick up the morning paper, browse for gaming news from Kotaku, and constantly visit their favorite websites.  The very process of shifting your sources around for this information can be time-consuming and very trying on your patience.

Luckily for the rest of us, we’ve discovered Google’s Reader.  It’s been out for quite a while, but I caught on only a few months ago.  If you’re familiar with RSS Feeds you won’t have a problem figuring this out.  However, most of Google’s products are so user-friendly even a chimpanzee can figure it out…or at least escape from its human captors via Segway.  Here’s what it would look like…and I’m not talking about that chimp:

You can also track your stats in the “trends” section of Reader.  Only there will you be able to witness the numbers climb as you continue to read, star, and share articles of interest with friends.  My top read sites are the BBC and Gizmodo, with 1,644 and 1,460 articles respectively.

Reader can be accessed on mobile devices (i.e. Apple iPhone, HTC G1, etc).  So if you’re really on the go you’ll be able to enjoy reading all your favorite articles on your phone…even when you’re dumping a doodoo in the shitter.  On my iPhone I’m able to read a small batch of articles at a time; this is good.  If I’m skipping through a group of uninteresting articles, I can mark those as read and move on to the next batch.

Somehow I haven’t figured out how to do that on a regular browser, in which I’m forced to view all articles and mark all as read.  To view Reader on a phone all you have to do is point your browser to reader.google.com.  Since my iPhone is linked to my Google account, it automatically logs in for me.  Here’s a preview of it in action:

If you’re using an iPhone and you want to set up a button for Reader on your home screen (aka Springboard), do the following:

1. Open Safari
2. Point your browser to reader.google.com
3. Press the “+” button near the bottom of the screen to create a bookmark
4. Select “Add to Home Screen”

To view my shares, see the Google Reader widget on the right panel…or go here.

Update:  Find yourself logging in everytime you access Reader on your iPhone?  Read this article at Ben.geek.nz…

Tags: Apple, bbc, gizmodo, google, google reader, iPhone, news, sackboy

The Bluez, Pt. 2: Audio

As previously mentioned, I’ve connect a set of bluetooth headphones to my computer.  Specifically, they’re Insignia NS-BTHDP.  Note that Insignia is a private label of Best Buy, much like Costco’s Kirkland Signature or Target’s Archer Farms.  These will set you back about $50.  If you’ve been doing your research on bluetooth headphones, you’ll know that you can’t expect a world of performance at this price.

Linux:

• Works on Banshee and Rhythmbox using the instructions from the FOSSwire article in Part 1.

Mobile Devices:

• Despite this article being about bluetooth headphones, this device can actually serve as a headset.  So you can hook it up to your phone, listen to music, and make calls without ever having to switch anything around…right?  I gave it a try with my Blackberry Pearl have found that music does not connect through the headphones, but calls can be made; possibly due to the fact that it’s not a walkman phone.
• I tested it on a second phone:  Sony Ericsson W580i.  Not only did it play music through the headphones, placing/receiving a calls worked without a problem.

Video Game Consoles:

• Connecting the headphones to the Playstation 3 was easy.  As for the chat quality…well, as soon as the PS3 becomes a multiplayer gaming platform that can live up to the Xbox 360, I’ll let you know.  My contact list on the PS3 consists of two people who seldom sign on.  It’s too bad my 360 doesn’t support bluetooth.
• Ah…and the Nintendo Wii.  There isn’t any official news pertaining to any bluetooth headset support.  In fact, there isn’t even a voice chat feature built in to that little box.  For die hard Wii fans who want to hear their opponents scream during Super Smash Brothers Wii will have to talk on cellphones while gaming, or settle for the WiiSpeak.

Digital Audio Players (DAPs):

• The Sony A820 was designed for bluetooth headphones.  In fact, it’s the easiest device to sync with.  The player itself has a dedicated button to activate bluetooth mode.  If you’ve already synced a headset to it, you’ll never need to do it again.  Just turn that bitch on.
• I have an iPod Classic.  I hate my iPod Classic.  It’s slow as hell, and the Cover Flow system needs a lot of work.  C’mon, Steve.  The iPhone isn’t the only thing that needs work.  Anyway, I picked up a Sony bluetooth adapter for it.  You wouldn’t believe the fuckin packaging.  Nonetheless it works just as well.  The connection is solid, and the sound quality might even be better than my standard wired headphones.

Click image for ubervision.

Click image for ubervision.

Bottom Line:  Syncing bluetooth devices can sometimes be a pain.  For some devices, it’ll take a few tries to sync the headphones.  But once it does, it works.

Tags: a2dp, banshee, blackberry pearl, bluetooth, inisignia, iPhone, ipod, ipod classic, ns-bthdp, playstation 3, ps3, rhythmbox, sony ericsson w580i

The Bluez, Pt. 1: Connectivity

For the past few weeks I’ve been watching a lot of movies and television shows on my computer.  And if I wanted to watch with headphones I’d feel chained to the computer, without any freedom to move about while continuing to listen.

So I’m chillin at home and I’m staring at these bluetooth headphones that I bought for the ladyfriend’s new Sony NWZ-A829BLK.  Strangely enough the thought never occurred to me to connect them to my computer

Linux users like me will know that while support for bluetooth on Linux has been out for quite a while, it’s a bit buggy and tricky as shit…as shit.  So I take a deep breath, read a few positive reviews about the D-Link DBT-120 on Linux, and whip out the plastic.

It arrived via UPS yesterday and I spent all night working on it.  I’m running a “WinBlowz” XP and Ubuntu Gutsy dual-boot, so I tried the device on XP first.  Obviously, any idiot can pop in the installation CD and click away from there.  The utility that came with it worked on the fly not only with headphones, but also allowed file transfers with my Blackberry Pearl.

To get it working on Linux, I used two sources and a tiny bit of guesswork:

• Ubuntu Wiki article on the D-Link DBT-122 (It seemed to have worked for my DBT-120).
• FOSSwire (To get A2DP working).
  
  • UPDATE: FOSSwire notes that the above instructions are not supported in Ubuntu 8.10.  They have provided these instructions instead, which I have tested and confirmed to work on Ubuntu 8.10:  Better Bluetooth Audio.

Well it worked in Linux with limited results.  I’m able to send files from my computer to my phone.  The bluetooth headphones work, but only with gstreamer-based applications like Rhythmbox.  I’ll continue to tinker with it over time, but I’m positive that future updates of these libraries will improve connectivity.

UPDATE:  File transfers with the Blackberry Pearl work both ways in Linux!

Tags: a2dp, bluetooth, linux, netflix, rhythmbox, winblowz, windows xp